lucky owl bag ｜ 2024
speaker box, monitor, cable, in-store announcement

In Ikebukuro, a district in Tokyo, there is a popular meeting spot: a stone statue called “Ikefukuro”. The name is a wordplay combining “Ikebukuro” and “fukuro” (owl). Interestingly, despite the absence of wild owls in the area, the owl has become a symbolic figure of the city through this pun. In Japanese, “fukuro” (owl) has long been associated with good fortune due to homophones like “fukurō” meaning “no hardship” (fuku = luck, rō = labor/hardship), and the phrase “fuku ga kuru” meaning “luck will come”. Similarly, “fukubukuro”—a term often translated as “lucky bag”—refers to sealed bags sold around the New Year, whose contents remain unknown until after purchase. This structure, in which meaning is only revealed afterward, resembles the unpredictability of the future. The original Japanese title “Fukubukuro” connects three elements through wordplay: Ikebukuro, fukuro (owl), and fukubukuro (lucky bag), both phonetically and conceptually. Even in the absence of real animals, names and language can continue to carry their presence. This work reflects on how language can sustain the presence of animals, even when their physical forms are gone.
























Exhibition｜Lucky Owl Bag
Venue｜WACCA IKEBUKURO, Tokyo, Japan
Photo｜Ray Ogishima